Category Archives: Philanthropy Center

George Soros was born in Hungary and raised through the Nazi occupation. He and his family would survive the Nazi occupation of Hungary before moving to London and eventually making their way to America. George Soros’ fascinating life story only serves as the opening chapter of the incredible work that he is doing in America and the rest of the world. Soros is one of the most vocal progressives in the world and he has become one of the most giving philanthropists of all time. Soros, a billionaire hedge fund manager, founded the Open Society Foundations in 1979. Since then he has been steadily guiding his wealth toward the foundation in order to make a difference that would last beyond his time here. Soros recently made the news when it was revealed that he donated almost $18 billion to his charity, moving the vast majority of his wealth.

George Soros is well-known for his presence as a progressive and this is particularly true in the era of Trump. When Donald Trump won the Presidency, the rest of the United States was put on notice. Trump rose to power with a firebrand version of populism wrapped up in casual bigotry and hateful rhetoric. While much of the political world laughed at Trump’s juvenile rise during the primaries, Soros knew that he was a threat to the very political system that made America a superpower. So, when Trump was elected Soros would make an immediate $10 million donation to the Open Society Foundations as a symbolic gesture. Following that donation, Soros would continue to move up to $18 billion into his foundation.

The Open Society Foundations has been helping grassroots foundations all around the world for over three decades. Their goal is to help support groups that fight for equality, freedom of expression, social justice and more. These traits fit right inline with what Soros wants to fight for here in America, as well. The rise of Donald Trump has fueled hate crimes all around the country and that, specifically, is something that Soros wants to address.

Soros points to his wealth as a primary motivator in his pursuit to donate. Soros says, “This allows me to take a stand on controversial issues. In fact, it obliges me to do so because others cannot.” While the vast majority of people will cheer for Soros’ massive philanthropic outreach, not everyone is happy. While George Soros has objectively given more than his fair share to help out the world, he is still seen as some sort of puppet-master by the modern GOP. If there is a boogeyman that exists, the GOP has turned Soros into one. During the height of the NFL anthem protests, it was Soros that the right lambasted. When Alabama’s Senate candidate Roy Moore fell into misconduct allegations, Soros was again to blame. Now, with Soros donating $18 billion to philanthropy there are conspiracy theories running amok. Despite the crackpot theories, Soros continues to put his money where his mouth is in order to fight for the common man and woman.

Betsy DeVos is definitely helping a lot of people see that there is more to the education system than what people have been seeing. She has been able to help a lot of people that may have never considered graduating from high school. This is what Betsy DeVos wants to do as Secretary of Education. She wants to narrow the gap between America and many others school systems that are excelling beyond what kids are doing in Americanized public education systems.

The thing that I like about Betsy DeVos is that she does not try to hide the fact that the education system in America is broken. She doesn’t glance over this. She makes it known that there’s an education system that is failing, and she wants people to stand up and do something about it.

This is where she is exerting her power and pushing the boundaries as Secretary of Education. Many people can see that she is someone that is going to be able to change the way that men or women think about education. She is introducing more people to a charter schools, and this may be exactly what the education system needs in order to compete with other nations that have a better education system. Read more about her philanthropy at MLive.

Betsy DeVos knows that in this age of technology that there are a lot of things that need to be changed. The system function the way that always has functioned in the past. That is why Betsy and her husband Dick DeVos have given so much to education. More than a billion dollars has been given by the DeVos family because they know that technology is changing the way that people learn. It is changing the way that students are able to interact with one another and take Virtual Field Trips. Betsy DeVos is all for the enhancement of education, and she believes that it is also going to take passionate teachers. I can fully agree with her on this because the teacher that has no enthusiasm about teaching a class will never be able to truly help students reach their full potential.

The education system is changing in a lot of different ways, and people are going to be able to benefit from a better high school education and transition into higher education if they are taught well during their K through 12 years. I think that Betsy DeVos is aware of this, and she is trying to do everything within her power to make sure that more students are able to learn more while they’re in school. She wants to have a greater level of diversity to education. She is definitely an important player in the restructuring of education. Read her interview with Philanthropy Table

Dick DeVos is the eldest son in the family of Richard DeVos. Together with Jay Van Andel, Richard DeVos founded a privately owned company called Amway Corporation in 1924. The Amway Corporation is a network sales business that executes the services of product distribution. Among the things the company distributes include, health, household, and personal care goods. The company distributes the products through wholesalers.

DeVOS started working in the Amway Company in 1974, serving in a position in different levels of duties in many of the business’ operating section. After one decade working as junior staff, DeVos was appointed the vice president of the corporation’s operation in 18 states, most likely to acquire knowledge outside the family owned organization. In 1989, he made an exit from the company to establish a new business enterprise called The Windquest Group, a business that deals with the manufacturing and marketing of luggage compartment and closet organizers.

In 1991, his father appointed him to supervise the National Basket Association that the family had purchased. While doing the management duties, he as well remained concerned in the management of his company, Windquest Group.

After two years, he went back to Amway Corporation as its Chief Executive Officer, being a successor of his father. In 2000, he supervised the reorganizing of Amway Corporation. An umbrella company was founded, and they named it Alticor Corporation. It consisted of the Amway Corporation, Access Business Group, and Quixtar Corporation. Under the new organization of Alticor, the company extended its business territories to more than 50 nations and 6 continents.

In 2002, Dick DeVos announced his retirement as president of Alticor Corporation so that he can fully dedicate his time to his individual venture, Windquest Group, as its Chief Executive Officer. In 2006, Mr. Dick made a decision to enter into active politics and contend for governor of Michigan State on the Republican ticket. He used his riches in financing his campaign to become a governor of Michigan, spending more than 40 million U.S dollars for the campaign. Even though money is an essential thing in political campaigns, in this situation, the money provided evidence that indeed it can be of great assistance.

Dick DeVos and Elizabeth Prince have been married each other over three decades. They are blessed with four kids, two sons-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. Two of their children are currently in schools learning full-time basis, and all the four children are actively involved in business professions. For more information about Dick DeVos, follow him on Twitter.

It becomes difficult to give regularly to any organization. But Bruce Levenson has, in some degree, conquered that difficulty. According to a recent PR Newswire article, Bruce and Karen Levenson were responsible for giving seed money to an organization called The Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Maryland. This center raises some ten thousand dollars every semester between the varying classes which are available to students. All told that’s twenty thousand dollars a year. This money is then donated to nonprofit organizations that are deemed worthy by The Center. The Center has been operating for three years, and is still expanding. In fact, a dormitory was recently added to The Center, and currently all students enrolled at the University of Maryland are required to pass through it. According to Bruce Levenson, the reason for this is so that all graduates of the University of Maryland come out “informed and motivated philanthropist[s].” This means The Center doesn’t just have a local impact, it doesn’t just have a national impact; it’s impact is international, with a potential toward being worldwide. Already the nation’s capital deems this center as one of the best to recruit from. Nonprofit agencies such as the Marriott Foundation and the Smithsonian regularly recruit from The Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Maryland, and more organizations become cognizant of their prime philanthropic facilitation regularly. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/undergrads-and-graduate-students-mastering-philanthropy-300038081.html